In my previous post, Life’s Not a Bed of Roses, I shared some of my own personal struggles, and how I focus each day on the blessings in my life to help encourage and give me hope. My first priority is prayer. I believe God has each of us in the palm of His hand, and has plans and a purpose for our lives.

Second, the messages I take into my mind are only positive and uplifting. Four calendar flip books are scattered around me, and I can receive a new positive message daily. If you’re not sure what these are, here are some examples:

Input and Output

Remember the terms “input” and “output” in the early days of computers? (I’m showing my age here) Using Fortran, Cobol, Basic or some other computer language, we’d create a program in glowing green or amber words, to make the computer do the task we wanted. Then, and only then would they transform into a powerful and helpful tool. This was not simple, by the way. If you’re a tech geek, then you’ll get a kick out of the Timeline of Computer History.

The same applies to humans. What we take in (positive or negative) is what will eventually pour out of our mouths or show in our actions towards others. The more you focus on the good in your life and take every thought captive, the more you’ll notice an improvement in how you feel and react in difficult situations. Yep, this is life, and like Whack-a-moles at a carnival—they’ll definitely pop up from time to time. Guaranteed.

To help you get started, I’m going to post 366 (an extra day for the next leap year) days of encouraging, uplifting, hopeful, and motivating verses and quotes. Let’s start with January through April, and I pray some of these will put a smile on your face, and extra pep into your step.

January

1. Earth is consumed with heaven, And every bush aflame with God; But only those who see take off their shoes. ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

2. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Every day is a #beautiful day and the best day! ” quote=”Write it in your heart that every day is the best day of the year. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson “]

3. Whatsoever things are true, Whatsoever things are honest, Whatsoever things are just, Whatsoever things are pure, Whatsoever things are lovely, Whatsoever things are of good report; If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, Think on these things.
   ~Philippians 4:8

4. Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew. ~Francis De Sales

5. For as he thinks within himself, so he is. ~Proverbs 23:7 NASB

6. Every good thought you think is contributing its share to the ultimate result of your life. ~Grevville Kleiser

7. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude. ~William James

8. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

9. The mind is its own place, and in itself can make heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven. ~Milton

10. Count your blessings!

11. How often things occur by mere chance which we dare not even hope for. ~Terence

12. Most of the time we think we’re sick, it’s all in the mind. ~Thomas Wolfe

13. I didn’t do anything that’s bad for me. I don’t like to be made nervous or angry. Any time you get upset it tears down your nervous system. ~Mae West

14. You are gifted.

15. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. ~1 Peter 5:6-7 (NKJV)

16. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious ~Albert Einstein

17. Anger is one of the sinews of the soul; he that wants it hath a maimed mind. ~Thomas Fuller 1642

18. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Take action today! #motivation #inspiration” quote=”We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action. ~Frank Tibolt” theme=”style3″]

19. Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us. ~Sir Thomas Browne

20. The wise store up knowledge ~Proverbs 10:14

21. Where we are is a result of a lifetime of thinking—both positive and negative.

22. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

23. Lost time is never found again ~Benjamin Franklin

24. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.~Ephesions 4:23

25. The strangest and most fantastic fact about negative emotions is that people actually worship them. ~P.D. Ouspensky

26. There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. ~George Santayana

27. Tomorrow’s life is too late. Live today. ~Martial

28. [click_to_tweet tweet=”The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. ~Psalm 23″ quote=”The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. ~Psalm 23″]

29. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! ~Joseph Campbell

30. No man is happy who does not think himself so. ~Publilius Syrus

31. Common sense is not so common. ~Voltaire

February

1. A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years’ study of books. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2. Sorrow shared is halved and joy shared is doubled. ~Native American Saying

3. Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ~1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)

4. Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength. ~Sigmund Freud

5. [click_to_tweet tweet=”An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out? ~ Michel De Saint-Pierre” quote=”An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out? ~ Michel De Saint-Pierre” theme=”style2″]

6. God takes life’s pieces and gives us unbroken peace. ~Gough

7. Is there a “cure” for a broken heart? Only time can heal your broken heart, just as ony time can heal his broken arms and legs. ~Miss Piggy

8. The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention.

9. Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and previous it is. ~Maksim Gorky

10. Whoever dwells in the shelter of the most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ~Psalm 91:1

11. Death is not the great loss in life. The great loss is what dies inside us while we live. ~Norman Cousins

12. I will work in my own way, according to the light that is in me. ~Lydia Maria Child

13. Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.

14. All noble things are as difficult as they are rare. ~Spinoza

15. You must look into people, as well as at them.

16. Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of faith is to see what we believe. ~Augustine

17. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. ~Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

18. There’s one way to find out if a man is honest—ask him. If he says, “Yes,” you know he’s a crook. ~Groucho Marx

19. Truths kindle light for truths. ~Julius Caesar

20. [click_to_tweet tweet=”I believe in laughter: I think it’s food for the soul. ~Tommy Lasorda” quote=”I believe in laughter: I think it’s food for the soul. ~Tommy Lasorda” theme=”style3″]

21. Keep ascending the mountain of cheerfulness by daily scattering seeds of kindness along the way as best you can…When you finally reach the sun-tipped heights in your own life-experience, your journey will certainly be worth the trek.

22. Make it a practice to judge persons and things in the most favorable light at all times, in all circumstances. ~St. Vincent De Paul

23. We know all things work together for good to those who love God. ~Romans 8:28

24. Learning is a name superior to beauty; learning is better than hidden treasure…learning is strength inexhaustible. ~The Hitopradesa

25. One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love. ~Sophocles

26. Never give way to melancholy; resist it steadily, for the habit will encroach. ~Sydney Smith

27. [click_to_tweet tweet=”A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something. ~Wilson Mizner” quote=”A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something. ~Wilson Mizner”]

28. A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. ~Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)

29. Do what you can, with what you have, with where you are. ~Theodore Roosevelt

March

1. Life in March weather; savage and serene in one hour. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. Success is a bright sun that obscures and makes ridiculously unimportant all the little shadowy flecks of failure.

3. Make your life a mission—not an intermission.

4. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere…give us courage…and the quiet mind… ~Robert Louis Stevenson” quote=”Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere…give us courage…and the quiet mind… ~Robert Louis Stevenson” theme=”style3″]

5. God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. ~Reinhold Niebuhr 1943

6. It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity. ~Publilius Syrus

7. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. ~Psalm 119:105

8. There are some days when I think I’m going to die from an overdose of satisfaction. ~Salvador Dali

9. I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure which is: Try to please everybody. ~Herbert Bayard Swope

10. We never know how high we are till we are called to rise. ~Emily Dickinson

11. The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.

12. Cherish your own emotions, and never undervalue them.

13. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. ~Proverbs 16:24

14. Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. ~Confucius

15. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can’t accept your imperfections, that’s their fault.” quote=”Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can’t accept your imperfections, that’s their fault.”]

16. Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose—a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. ~Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

17. Learning to live is learning to let go. ~Sogyal Rinpoche

18. Let him cry whoever feels like crying…the shedding of a tear, whether of forgiveness or of pity or of sheer delight at beauty, will do him a lot of good. ~Lin Yutang

19. The smile on your face is the light in the window that tells people you’re at home.

20. With God nothing will be impossible. ~Luke 1:37

21. It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.
    ~Erasmus 1465-1536

22. When you get right down to the root of the meaning of the word “succeed,” you find it simply means to follow through. ~F.W. Nichol

23. Ask yourself the question, “Will this matter a year from now?”

24. The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. ~Abraham Lincoln

25. You have to take time to live. Living takes time. ~Eleanor McMillen Brown

26. To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour. ~William Blake

27. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. ~Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

28. Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. ~Will Rogers

29. There are two ways of spreading light: To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
    ~Edith Wharton

30. Repeat to yourself, “Life isn’t an emergency.”

31. [click_to_tweet tweet=”There are three marks of a superior man: being virtuous, he is free from anxiety; being wise, he is free from perplexity; being brave, he is free from fear. ~Confucius” quote=”There are three marks of a superior man: being virtuous, he is free from anxiety; being wise, he is free from perplexity; being brave, he is free from fear. ~Confucius” theme=”style3″]

April

1. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. ~James 5:16 (NKJV)

2. You can’t control the length of your life, but you can control its width and depth.

3. Smile at strangers, look into their eyes, and say hello.

4. The world,—this shadow of the soul, or other me,–lies wide around. Its attractions are the keys which unlock my thoughts and make me acquainted with myself.
   ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. It is better to ask some questions than to know all the answers. ~James Thurber

6. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. ~1 Chronicles 16:34 (NKJV)

7. [click_to_tweet tweet=”The mind like a parachute functions only when open.” quote=”The mind like a parachute functions only when open.”]

8. Set aside quiet time, every day.

9. I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experiences behind him. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

10. Learn to labor and wait. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

11. The love we give away is the only love we keep. ~Elbert Hubbard

12. It is impossible to live pleasurably without living wisely, well, and justly, and impossible to live wisely, well, and justly without living pleasurably. ~Epicurus

13. I will not steep my speech in lies; the test of any man lies in action. ~Pindar 522-433 B.C.

14. When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffocils…~William Wordsworth

15. Do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. ~Hebrews 13:16 (NIV)

16. Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold. ~Zelda Fitzgerald

17. Life teaches us to be less harsh with ourselves and with others. ~Lin Yutang

18. Tell three people (today) how much you love them.

19. Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the way you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.
    ~John Wesley

20. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. ~Pamela Vaull Starr” quote=”Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. ~Pamela Vaull Starr” theme=”style3″]

21. The quieter you become, the more you can hear. ~Ram Dass

22. Remember that everything has God’s fingerprints on it.

23. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind. ~Eric Hoffer

24. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. ~Ecclesiastes 3: 1-3

25. Be of good cheer. ~Homer

26. And all the loveliest things there be, come simply so, it seems to me. ~Edna St. Vincent Millay

27. Be grateful when you’re feeling good, and graceful when you’re feeling bad.

28. Independence? That’s middle-class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth. ~George Bernard Shaw.

29. Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve…You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
    ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

30. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.” quote=”Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.” theme=”style1″]

31. Life is a beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is costly, care for it. Life is wealth, keep it. Life is love, enjoy it. Life is a mystery, know it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it!  ~Mother Teresa

Coming up Next: May-August

I’d love to hear from you! What are some of your favorite go-to verses, sayings or quotes?

 

 

 

Penelope Silvers is a freelance writer, author,
and radio host of Penelope’s Book Chat on Blog
Talk Radio. She lives simply and sanely on Florida’s
beautiful nature coast.